January 30, 2023 Season 3 Episode 18
Eastern Region of Uganda: Abubaker Sekatuka views the experiences of his life as stories that have helped him become who he is. Though some of his childhood experiences were tough, and he’s had his share of challenges and pain, he somehow finds the positive. Telling his stories is a strength born of struggle. It takes courage to be honest and transparent but he knows that is how he helps others.
Watch the Making of This Podcast
Read the Transcript
Abubaker Sekatuka
One thing that I've observed, that I'm very honest with, is telling my story. It's a hard thing, because I've been in different environments where people fear to talk about themselves. There are certain things that they feel the world shouldn't know. But the world has taught me differently. Not everyone who seeks help is helped. But still, you've done something, and one of them is telling your story.
Paul Meunier
Hello, I'm Paul Meunier, the executive director of the Youth Intervention Programs Association. And I'm a youth worker at heart. How lucky am I, I have the privilege to meet youth workers from around the globe and learn their stories and share them with the entire world. I'm glad you're listening because together we'll learn how their life experiences shape their youth work. As you listen, I encourage you to consider how your experiences shape what you have to offer young people. Welcome to this edition of The Passionate Youth Worker. Hi, everybody, for this episode, we're joined by Abubaker Sekatuka from the Eastern Region of Uganda. He is in the United States on a community exchange program where he is focusing on his passion of empowering young people. I think you'll find him to be a humble and centered human being with a strong desire to serve others. Abubaker, thank you for being a guest on the podcast.
Abubaker Sekatuka
Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to this podcast.
Paul Meunier
You're very welcome. I'm eager to learn all about your history and all about you as a human being. I'd like to start with asking you about your background a little bit. You have a bachelor's degree in public health, and you have a diploma in nursing. And most of your work experience thus far has been in helping train health workers to assess and treat malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malnutrition in children, things that can easily be addressed. Will you talk a little bit about that work and your willingness and eagerness to dive in and help with community health?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Yes, thank you. In this work, I work with an organization called Living Goods in Uganda and we support our children, we treat children in the areas that you've talked about; treating malaria and pneumonia, and diarrhea. We do this work through training, community health, our volunteers. Majority of these are women, we train them, and we provide them with the digital tools to do this kind of work. And then we supervise them. And we empower them through refresher trainings. And we do give them a little compensation, not a salary, but to appreciate the kind of work they do. And my interest in this kind of work, particularly in community health, has a story behind it. When I was a young kid, I had my sister in the family, she was the forgotten person because she left us. And she was born with the cerebral palsy. Before I started school, I was always with her at home while others were away. She was my line of defense when I was playing with the other kids and they could chase me around. And although she could just crawl, she was my defender. So, by the age of five, I remember she got sick and passed on. And I was told that it was malaria. It was sad for me. And I never forgot that. And this is where all the way from my childhood I always wanted to be a medical doctor, treat children and women because these are the causes that were so much attached to me. And here I am, met this organization and that's where the passion came from. Working in community, seeing children suffer, and I'm like, I should be part of this.
Paul Meunier
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. It sounds like she was a real inspiration to you. And her life seemed to give your life some sense of direction. Would you say that's accurate?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Exactly.
Paul Meunier
And you started doing that by helping people fight off easy-to-fight-off illnesses and things with little medicine or different ways to prevent things. And you probably saved lives, I would imagine. You don't maybe know that directly and say that young person is alive because of me or that person. But I bet you your work has saved a bunch of lives and that is very, I think, amazing that you do that kind of work. But now you're moving from the health arena into empowering young people and trying to give them a voice and help them feel confident about themselves. Why are you shifting from health care to more of a social side of helping young people?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Well, it's all about the background. You know, all these things are not totally different. They're not different fields. Like doing the same thing, but in a different way. So, this is my background. Every day we dream and you want to do something. But along the process you always learn something new. And that something new leads you to another thing. My whole childhood wasn't all bad you can really say that it was good financially. I come from a very big family, an extended kind of family whereby we have the mom, the dad, the biological children, the nieces, and other children that they don't really have blood ties with but they look after them. And because of that, our resources aren't enough for some reason. And I grew up working on less resources so you have to budget for what is there. What is not there, you let it go. And I've been privileged that I have persisted and gone through all these challenges while dreaming and having hope that I will make it but they are those that I know, my age-mates, my village-mates, the ones that I grew up with whom I know, girls are having more than you know six children right now. Others I don't even know what they're doing. They barely feed themselves. And these are my age-mates, these others are even younger than me. So, because of these, I started diving into how I can help them, how can I do this. And having that background in health, and also human rights, then I had to merge the two. And we who have these chances to get new perspectives about life, self-development, it is our responsibility, I believe, to go back home and let the others know, the less privileged, that we can do this. We don't need anyone else to come and teach us to do this. But we can mobilize ourselves and organize, and solve our own problems.
Paul Meunier
When I introduced you at the beginning of the podcast, I said I find you to be humble and centered. I think you just described why I felt so strongly about that.
Abubaker Sekatuka
Thank you.
Paul Meunier
You're very welcome. Abubaker, you described a childhood that I think most would agree was kind of tough. And yet, when I spoke with you, when we were getting to learn a little bit about each other, you said But my childhood was the most beautiful thing. You were able to take and frame that in a way to something that is so worthy of being grateful for. Your existence, your privilege, that you are now not in the same place as a lot of your age-mates. And I'm wondering, how do you remain so humble and just centered, you're such a calm voice and you're such a reasonable voice and you're trying to do such big things? How do you do that, is it just a personality trait or do you have to work really hard at staying focused on being grateful for what you have?
Abubaker Sekatuka
You know, personally, I do believe that probably personalities do change with time and the different circumstances that you go through. I have several stories to tell about my childhood. I was this naturally, I was this humble child. I never wanted to socialize with others. I grew up stammering, it was too intense that I never joined school and I never joined kindergarten. It was tough for me, even playing with my fellow kids, they could laugh at me, they could tease me and it was really tough. And I could just distance myself until the age of six. I remember it was age of six, I went into coma, and a couple of months, around two and a half, I got up and it was a different story. I was speaking very fast. And I remember my mom telling me that the first thing I asked, I want food. And everyone rushed to get food because there was not food by that time. But what they gave me I ate. I didn't even wait to be, you know, asked. I just told them, You know what, I've been somewhere beautiful. I was with a man. He was wearing white, I was wearing white. And we were just traveling, walking in the garden of flowers. I just told them and everyone was looking at me wondering how I'm speaking without difficulty like before. And it was a blessing in disguise, you know?
Paul Meunier
Yeah.
Abubaker Sekatuka
Everyone thought they were going to lose me. But then I got up, I rose up, I was alive. And because of the speed of recovery, everything was very fast. It was like I've lost some time and I'm now trying to catch up. I was very fast in speaking, I was very fast in everything. So, immediately they took me to school. And I joined primary one. And I was tested, they brought the chart, animals, ABCs. And I knew these things because my siblings, all the siblings tried to teach me, they could try to support me like you can do it, read this. And I couldn't be like ah ah A, da da D, stuff like that. But then I was like A, B, C D.
Paul Meunier
Wow.
Abubaker Sekatuka
So small, yeah. And that kind of family, it was a big family but it taught me a lot of things. It was a happy family although we had those challenges. But we could laugh. I was taught to sing. Even though there is no food, you sleep with a happy heart you know. So, I believe the values that we had in our family contributed a lot to my later life. You know, I always reflect there's so many challenges, there's so many temptations that I've you know, faced but I just reflect, what would my father say if he was in such a situation, or what would they say if I shared with them? And I already had the answer, because I already knew what they already think.
Paul Meunier
You tell your story so beautifully. It's just a pleasure to listen to you speak. There's something so soothing about your presence. And sadly, I have to interrupt that and take a short break. But when we come back, I would like to talk to you a little bit more about your presence and your demeanor. So, we'll be right back.
Jade Schleif
No matter how you support our young people, The Professional Youth Worker, powered by YIPA, has your training and learning needs covered. Visit training.yipa.org. that's training.yipa.org to see for yourself and then join the 1000s of youth workers around the globe who learn from our easy to access exceptional trainings. From our blogs to our podcast, The Professional Youth Worker is your go-to resource for tools to help you keep going, keep learning, and keep growing. Members enjoy free unlimited access to Live Online and On-Demand trainings, and a preferred discount pricing for our one-of-a-kind certificate course. Annual memberships are ridiculously affordable for individuals and organizations. Visit training.yipa.org today to learn more. That's training.yipa.org
Paul Meunier
Abubaker, right before the break I was talking about your presence is so calming and soothing. And you are an empath, you feel for other people deeply and you talked about being soothing for other people, people that have disabilities or trouble engaging in general society and you're very comforting and soothing for those people and that empathetic self that you have is so strong. Can you talk a little bit about that? Have you always been that super compassionate person that could feel things on a very deep level?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Yes, I really do.
Paul Meunier
Yeah.
Abubaker Sekatuka
You know, I had, I want to say it was a very traumatic experience. But this stems from my parents, you know, coming from a polygamous family. That is not a problem. I wouldn't say it's a problem,
Paul Meunier
Sure.
Abubaker Sekatuka
If probably resources are there, and everyone has enough, that's not a problem. My father worked in the late President Idi Amin's government. And he was a politician. And this is a well-known dictator.
Paul Meunier
Yes.
Abubaker Sekatuka
And a lot of things happened. I would say he was a rich man. I don't deny that. But the stories that I'm always told, because ever since I was born, I never saw him work. I got sick later on. So many events happened when the government was overthrown. And he became blind with those kinds of illnesses. And I always, you know, visited friends, go to their parent's homes, and they could tell me about my father. And many of them could say father was a good man because when he had money, he could help people. But others told me painful things. For instance, someone told me, Your father had money and he wasted it. And when I asked how did he waste it? And then I was told that he could help other people but he could not help himself. And I asked myself, How is that bad? And I was told that's being foolish, how can you educate your relatives, your nieces, you know. But I understood it later because he got this money at an early age. And he didn't have a family by then, you know, so he had to help his brothers, his relatives and all that. So, by the time all these events came to change, he wasn't having enough when he had children. And these stories taught me to be humble. I was always afraid. I was always scared to, you know, to say my story, even at school. I had my father's name and I had to change it. To the extent that when they could chase us for school fees, like you haven't paid exams and, you know, you are about to read for the exams. And they could excuse a few children so they could ask, what's the name of your parent? When is he expecting to pay, on this date or tomorrow? And when they reached me, what's the name of your dad? And I would say, Mr. Abbas Mpuga, the headmistress would ask is Mr. Abbas Mpuga your father and I'm like yes. She said okay, okay. So, go back home and tell him that we need the money.
Paul Meunier
Oh.
Abubaker Sekatuka
Yeah, so it was kind of traumatic. And I went back to my mom, and I was telling, sharing with her all these things, and then she tells me, You know what? Whatever you hear, your dad was a good man. No matter what you hear, your dad has always been a good man. And I've seen that.
Paul Meunier
Yeah, you loved him and do you have that ability to love people, and not judge them for what they do, but maybe for who they are and what they can give to this world. It's, it's, it's amazing. And as I'm thinking about you talking about all this, I'm wondering, all these events in the stories, you have a story about everything, Abubaker. You have a wonderful way of describing your life and the things that you've experienced. How does all of that play into your work now, trying to empower people? What do you bring with you into that work? What kind of lessons, what kind of values what kind of approach, how does that influence all that?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Well, I've, my life has been a life of experiences. And one thing that I've observed, that I'm very honest with is telling my story. It's a hard thing because I've been in different environments where people fear to talk about themselves. There are certain things that they feel the world shouldn't know. But the world has taught me differently because I've told my story to people who have helped me. And I would say that I've been lucky. But luck has a context. It's not just a miracle that you stand there. But if you seek for help and someone listens to you and says, Alright, I'll do this. Then it's luck. Not everyone who seeks help is helped. But still, you've done something.
Paul Meunier
Yes.
Abubaker Sekatuka
And one of those is telling your story, by sharing. So, this is how it fits in the kind of work I do. I feel like there are so many people out there, especially young people, going through a lot. And I've had close friends whom I thought that I know. And yet I didn't know. I remember one close friend who dropped out of school ten years back. I just met him and he looked older than me, fit to be, you know, my big brother a very young boy. But when I asked him what transpired by the time we left, we separated. And he told me a very terrible story. By the time always go with him, he had these two little brothers. And he was living with a single mom. And he had to drop out of school so that he can go to work and support the family. Because the mom could not, and she was a diabetic. And it was a terrible experience. Now look at ten years down the road. And when you ask him, What have you been doing when you didn't have a qualification? It's really terrible. I almost cried. All of these experiences and stories, I reflect on them. And then I feel like these are the stories that we should always bring out. Young people can be supported. And in these stories you can know what they can do better and what you can contribute their career development and building their skills. And that's what drives me.
Paul Meunier
To be good at this work, you are the epitome of what it takes. You can tell your story so well because you take time to understand your story, and understand those events that have happened to you and the impact that they've played on your direction in life. So many people can't do that. And so many young people are struggling to take their life experiences and to make sense of that. I got to believe you are exceptional at helping young people understand their stories because you can't tell it until you understand it first. And you have to be willing to go inside, be a little introspective, and be a little humble and make sense of what happened to all of us in this world. We all have had stuff. I'm wondering, do you have just this natural connection with young people, do they just love, I know you love to talk. You love stories, you love communication. That's just, you get joy out of that. Do you find young people just open up to you and tell you and expose themselves?
Abubaker Sekatuka
Well, it's not an easy thing. But I appreciate what you see in me. Because I believe that's what they also see in me the first place. And when I listen, and I take things slow. And with that I gain confidence. You know they confide in me. They trust me and they can share. And I can say that it's not only my story or my experiences that have developed this in me. But sometimes I say I'm also a chamber of secrets of other people. And I feel like I'm holding the secret of this kind of person. I can't tell it to anyone but it's like burdening me someone has entrusted with you a very painful experience. And they really need your support. And this is something that has helped me to develop you know, that kind of trust. How can you keep that secret? How can you support someone without revealing someone's weakness? If they haven't given their permission, their consent to do so? And I can't say that it's a simple thing to do. Really challenging. But you do it day by day and it becomes part of you, I guess.
Paul Meunier
I could talk with you for hours, I find your stories. And I think we only touch one of hundreds of stories I bet you have about your life and how things have shaped who you are. But we're almost at our end of our time already. And I just wanted to say, thank you for being a guest, thank you for being so introspective. And being so humble and honest and centered, and secure in your own skin with who you are. And to find the beauty in everything, despite the challenges and the difficulties that life faces.
Abubaker Sekatuka
You’re welcome.
Paul Meunier
You're the epitome of just being hopeful and making the best out of what life gives you. And that's what we hope to do with young people. We hope to say no matter what their circumstances are, just make the best of it because that's what we're all trying to do. And I think that you are probably going to do that for hundreds, if not 1000s of young people and really inspire them to find their own centeredness and their own sense of contentment within themselves. So, thank you for all you do. Thank you for sharing your story. And thank you for being a guest on the podcast. It's been wonderful to get to know you, Abubaker.
Abubaker Sekatuka
You're welcome.
Paul Meunier
Before we go, though, I always ask the guest what words of wisdom or inspiration would you like to leave with the listeners?
Abubaker Sekatuka
One key word of inspiration that I would like to share is people always undermine the power of spirituality. But you should always have a higher power that you get hold on. You might not trust anybody, you might feel you can't even share with your parents or your guardian or anyone you feel is responsible over you. But if you understand spirituality, if you understand that there is a Supreme Being, it doesn't matter how you understand him or them. Muslims believe differently. Christians and other religions. But the overall thing is to understand that there is someone who understands you better. That's where we derive our hope from. And just try that. Somewhere alone and we say I'm gonna make this. I'm gonna do it. I need your help. That's where we derive this life force from, to keep pushing no matter what.
Paul Meunier
If you would like to share your passion for youth work, we'd love to spotlight you as a guest. If you have feedback about the show, please let us know. Just visit training.yipa.org That's training.yipa.org and click on the podcast tab. This podcast is made possible in part due to a generous contribution from M Health Fairview. I'm your host Paul Meunier. Thanks for listening to The Passionate Youth Worker.
January 17, 2023 Season 3 Episode 17
Minnesota, United States: Francis Yengistic seems to see the good in everything. Though his own circumstances growing up were difficult, the guidance and support of his beloved grandmother made it possible to view life full of hope and optimism. He’s dedicated his life to service. He shares his story and lessons from his grandmother, to help young people and youth workers believe in themselves, too.
Watch the Making of This Podcast
Read the Transcript
Francis Yengistic
To tell the truth, there are so many kids that are adopted to this country in United States from Eastern Europe. They cry all the time. I connect with them because I know how it is. I know how refugee life is. I've been there, I've been in their tent. I know how desperate they feel. Some of my students cannot come to school because their parents back home need help, they need some money to get just a single meal. When you have the hope, you're gonna make it through. I tell my students, wake up in the morning and look at the mirror and say, I look great, I'm strong, and I can make it to the next level.
Paul Meunier
Hello, I'm Paul Meunier, the executive director of the Youth Intervention Programs Association. And I'm a youth worker at heart. How lucky am I, I have the privilege to meet youth workers from around the globe and learn their stories and share them with the entire world. I'm glad you're listening because together we'll learn how their life experiences shape their youth work. As you listen, I encourage you to consider how your experiences shape what you have to offer young people. Welcome to this edition of The Passionate Youth Worker. Hi, everybody, for this episode, we're joined by Francis Yengestic from Minnesota here in the United States. Francis is a career counselor with the Hubert H Humphrey Job Corps, where he supports young people on their journey into the working world. He likes to tell his story. And unlike a lot of our guests on The Passionate Youth Worker, he's told it many times. We are delighted to have him as a guest. Francis, thanks for joining us.
Francis Yengistic
Thank you, sir. Thank you for inviting me for this moment. I really feel honored to be here to share my story with the rest of the people in the world.
Paul Meunier
Yeah, I'm eager to learn more and to share your story with everybody. And I can see why you tell your story. Quite honestly, Francis, it's pretty fascinating. In fact, it starts at a very early age in kind of a dramatic sort of way. Let's start talking about your auntie. Will you talk about her and what she did to literally help you survive?
Francis Yengistic
Yeah, again, I'm from East Africa. Born in central Uganda, which is Kampala area. Back in the 70s. I was raised by my grandma. It's not my aunt, but my aunt was also there. I was taken in by my grandma when I was very young. She did a great job because she has to breastfeed me. And I was taken to the farm where we, you know, we raise animals and goats and my grandpa and my grandma managed to bring me to the world that I'm here in today. It was not easy back then. You know, it's during the 70s and things are tough whether in Uganda or within East Africa. But with the power of my grandma, she empowered me to be who I am. I managed to do all that I have to do in East Africa. I continue going to school, whether I'm going barefooted, hungry, eating one meal or nothing. But I stick into my goals that I will not let my grandma down and the only word my grandma will tell me is you can do it. Don't wait for somebody to tell you you cannot do the ABCD. You are great. You will make it through. Yes, with that power today I am here, I'm in Minnesota. I managed to do what I have to do. I'm working with young people from Burma, from all over the world. East Africa, West Africa, Europe, Eastern Europe, whether Ukrainian, whether Russian. I have those students with me for last 14 years here at Job Corps. That's what I do, I guide them through to make sure that their lives are going to be better tomorrow.
Paul Meunier
It's wonderful that your grandma instilled such wonderful values in you and such a sense of hope and optimism and a belief in you that you could pretty much accomplish what you wanted to do with your life. And you were in need of the nutrients and her ability to breastfeed you kept you alive. I know when we were talking, you were saying that's important. So, not only did she give you the gift of life, she also gave you the gift of hope and optimism and you carry that forward. Did you feel like your grandma's a part of you and a major influence of your personality and who you've become as an adult in this world?
Francis Yengistic
I'm gonna say to the rest of the women in the world, mothers in the world whether a grandma, grandparents, more especially those ones who carry us for all the nine months. I still give credit to my mom. She did right choice to give me away to my grandma. She knows very well that I'll succeed and I'll be alive. If I was to stay with my mom probably I would not have been here. We've got two other siblings that followed right there. You know, it's bad times you know. Birth controls are not there. I don't blame them. But mom, my mom was wise enough to say, Grandma, you're young, you can take care of him. And again that decision was not bad. But guess what we did with the power of what grandma had. She made me here. And I know there are so many kids out there who thinks their mom has abandoned them or they give them for adoption. Guess what, whether it's from Russia, whether it's from other countries that you get adopted, it is a right choice. The nine months that your mom carried you is great. She did what she has to do. That is you have to call them that. Just call them blessing that you will never got it somewhere. Now, if you're raised by grandma, please hang in there. I made it through. I made it from the dusty place that I came from. And I'm here. Whether you're in South Africa, whether in eastern or Europe, Eastern Europe, I know some of the stories I'm telling you relate to you. Whether you're from Afghanistan, Burmese, Rohingyas, all these people who are going through refugee camp, some of us face those lives. I don't have to go to all the politics in Uganda back in the days where even my own family got kicked out and my dad has to relocate to South Sudan. Here I am.
Paul Meunier
Yeah, and your mother actually made a very important decision. And it had to be hard for her, that motherly love to give up her son, had to be really difficult. But it was the most maternalistic thing to do because you needed that extra support. And that's the kind of thing that only your grandmother at that time was able to provide to you. And here you are in the United States, working with all kinds of other immigrant young people, and sharing your story of hope and optimism that they can accomplish what they want out of life, too. And I want to talk about your education and your work here. But let's talk about what it was like when you first came to the United States. How old were you and what was that experience like when you set foot in the United States? It had to be really difficult.
Francis Yengistic
So, when I left Uganda, I completed what we call the HSC. That's the highest level before you go to university. That was 1980s. 1990s I completed the Senior six that was in a school called Kitante Hill. Then from there, my golden chance of coming to United State came. A family came here. They invited their parents and one of the young person that invited me to come with their family was my greatest young, I can call it a hero, that invited me to being part of that family. And when I landed here, I remember very well it was October 28. I wanted to go back.
Paul Meunier
Really.
Francis Yengistic
Back in the days that '99 the whole Minnesota is snow by this time. I was like I'm not gonna survive here. It's a very different environment, different culture, different people. I'm used to where in Kampala you see 500 people are all looking like me. I was like, am I going to make it through here. But guess what? I did survive that time. A few months later, I was like, I'm working. I was working in a gas station. I was making that money. I started planning. Again, going back to my grandma. My grandma used to give me what we call quarter small money. You have to save it up. Then that click in my head, grandma saying when you go somewhere the first thing is, don't spend everything on anything. Make sure the day that you feel hungry, take something and spend it. And I started looking at what my grandma said, Don't ever go and fix food from someone that is going to cost you. In other words, don't go and steal. You can live for two, three days without food. So, all that came to me. I was like, Okay, grandma, I'm gonna make it. Back then so I'm still younger, '99 so I'm still young. So I pick up a phone and I told grandma that I left Africa. And then she's like, What? No, you don't know what America is and I was like, Okay, I'm in a different world, but I'm gonna be okay. And then grandma also told me when I left my village that is in the northern part of the country to Kampala, she said don't forget to come home. I will remain here. I'm gonna wait for you to come see me. I say, grandma I'm in United States, but I'll come and see you. All of that success that she did I fulfilled by following what she has told me. And all this for the kids out there, whether you're working with youth, whether you are youth yourself, whether you are working with young people, you need to empower them. You need to make believe that they will be some people. Sometimes when you're young, you are desperate. When you're working with refugee in the camp, they don't know where they're gonna end. But it's just going by miracle that I'm in United States, I was able to get my education. I might need to serve this country in a way that I can serve.
Paul Meunier
And that's what is so impressive. You came here, I know when we were getting to know each other, you talked about you even had to at times ask people for food, you just really came with literally nothing. And you have made something of yourself in a very meaningful sort of way. But you also give back so much. You now are working with young people but you also served in the military.
Francis Yengistic
Yes.
Paul Meunier
I think before you went on to get your education. Can you talk about what drove you to serve in the military and defend this country when it was so new to you in the first place?
Francis Yengistic
So, I'm going to summarize it just quickly. First, before I left Uganda my dad wanted me to serve. And back then I was very young, he wanted me to join the Uganda army. So, I was very young, I decided again to relocate to my grandma. And then six months later, he passed away. And so when I came to United States, well 2021 came around, I started college, and two, three months later, September 11 came up. And before the end of the day, I found out I had to pay $8,000. And then September 11 happens, but before I left East Africa also we had the terrorist attack in, in East Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania, where so many people got killed. Most of them are people who look like me, 200 of them, I believe, if I'm not mistaken. And the President of United States called young people to serve in the military. I went in. Long story short, I went in because I want to fulfill the dreams of my dad. Second, I wanted to get my tuition paid. Third, I wanted to also protect the country. I never had kids, I never had actually I can say somebody by blood that is related to me. But all these people who made me got here made me serving them in the military. I don't do it because I wanted to just show myself but anyone can do it. You people who are outside this country, you can do it in a different way. Whether it's in your own country, whether it's in a different country, as long as you are legal you can do it. Do the right thing. I don't encourage young people to do in the wrong way, you know, joining some rebels or gangs and all that stuff. That's not worth it for a young person. Now, if you're working with young people, sometimes your work matters. I work with these students almost for the 14 years in Job Corps. These are young people, if I misled them, chances are they're going to do the wrong thing. But yes, I completed my bachelor degree next decide I went for master's degree and there was a bunch of them got paid by the military. I don't ask him more.
Paul Meunier
Wow, you have such a service mentality. You have come from such humble beginnings and turned it into something so positive that you've given back in so many ways, not only in putting your life on the line by defending us through the military, but also then now serving young people and being able to share your story, your sense of hope and optimism with them. We have to take a short break, believe it or not. But when we come back, I would like to talk a little bit more about your youth work and what you think about all that. So, we'll be right back after this short break.
Jade Schleif
No matter how you support our young people, The Professional Youth Worker, powered by YIPA, has your training and learning needs covered. Visit training.yipa.org. That's training.yipa.org to see for yourself and then join the 1000s of youth workers around the globe who learn from our easy to access exceptional trainings. From our blogs to our podcast, The Professional Youth Worker is your go-to resource for tools to help you keep going, keep learning, and keep growing. Members enjoy free unlimited access to Live Online and On-Demand trainings, and a preferred discount pricing for our one-of-a-kind certificate course. Annual memberships are ridiculously affordable for individuals and organizations. Visit training.yipa.org today to learn more. That's training.yipa.org
Paul Meunier
Francis, right before the break we were talking about your service to young people. And I know one of the things you do is go around and just tell your story. What do you tell young people? What is the essence of your story? Is it about grit, is it about determination, is it about hope? What is it that you try to instill in them when you talk to groups of young people in schools and things?
Francis Yengistic
First thing I'll say, everybody has to have the hope. Hope of life. Survive. Survival is the most important thing in your life.
Paul Meunier
Yeah.
Francis Yengistic
Majority of the people, whether in the military, or whether I'm in any environment, or here, in my school where I work with, sometimes people have no hope. I got one of my students, her brother got hurt or killed in North Minneapolis. And I'm looking at students from Myanmar, they were raised in a refugee camp, they never had a hope of being in the United States. And there are so many of them probably in Europe, or anywhere in the world, whether you're working with young people, and here I work with some of them. To tell the truth, there are so many kids that are adopted to this country in United States from Eastern Europe. They cry all the time. I connect with them because I know how it is. I know how refugee life is. I've been there, I've been in their tent. I know how desperate they feel. Some of my students cannot come to school because their parents back home need help. They need some money to get just a single meal. When you have the hope you're gonna make it through. I tell my students, wake up in the morning and look at the mirror and say, I look great, I'm strong, and I can make it to the next level.
Paul Meunier
I got to believe your words of wisdom to young people really carries them forward in a meaningful way. You give so much to young people, but I know young people also teach us a lot about ourselves. Is there something that young people have taught you that you can share with us? What kinds of things have you learned about yourself in supporting young people?
Francis Yengistic
One thing the young people they want is somebody who can listen to them, give them and ear. Listen, even if you cannot help them. You can listen. I was once in Kampala, streets of Kampala, with nothing. When I left my village and come to Kampala, I had a brother who's older than me completed Senior four and then he was working for KCC, KCC is Kampala City Council. He cannot afford to help me. But he listens to me and he tells me what I need to know about the city life in Kampala. Same thing with young people. When we listen to them, when we trust what they say, when we believe that their tomorrow will be the leaders of this country. That's what they need. And the hope goes two ways. My grandma one time told me move on, but look back and have the hope.
Paul Meunier
Your grandma sounds like a wonderful person.
Francis Yengistic
She was.
Paul Meunier
Francis, I get the feeling that you could have accomplished many things in this world with your sense of determination, your sense of optimism and your desire to just prove that you can make it. That kind of commitment you have to your grandmother and to your father, it sounds like too. You could have chose a lot of other paths in this life that maybe would have made you more money, maybe given you a little bit more recognition or a little fame. But you chose to serve young people, why young people? What is it about that, that drove you into doing this?
Francis Yengistic
To me, young people are the foundation and they are the future of the world. The future belongs to them. Sometimes we destroy young people you tell them to go riot and you tell them elections are rigged. You incite them to do bad stuff because you misleading them to do the wrong thing and yet these are the future of the world. We don't want to destroy them. We don't want to misled them. There's a way to bring young people to know what's right or wrong. And the foundation for us all in the world are the young people, whether you like it or not. It's unfortunate that some wars that we have is destroying young people. We recruit them to fight. They get killed in some developing country you find somebody who's just 12 years old serving in the military. Their mind is not for that we're supposed to empower them to be a future leaders but we're putting them into a wrong space when then they're getting hurt, where they're getting destroyed. Unfortunate. but we still have to have the hope.
Paul Meunier
You have such a beautiful mindset about what the world could be and how important it is to set the stage for the next generation and to give of yourself and be focused on the future, almost making a better world when you're not even here anymore. That's what you do. And it is just wonderful to connect with you about that. And I'm wondering when you work with young people, how do you define your success with them? Is it helping them to get a job and then move on or is it more about just trying to instill hope or is it all that stuff together?
Francis Yengistic
To me, it's everything plus encouraging them and tell them. To be honest, I came from everything that I have these people I've seen people who are wealthy, like I said earlier, I was in the streets of Kampala I worked as a gate man, gate man means you open the gates so that the boss enter to that house. I worked as a babysitter, but I have a hope that anything that I get from that job, the respect I give that person is going to earn me tomorrow to drive that car that the person will drive. When I connect with these students who are refugees it's the same way one of the refugees somewhere back in East Africa. My dad was in there during the time that there is luxury in Kampala, in Uganda back in 70s. They are making money. But his life ended in a bad way. It's unfortunate that they misused their funds. And this the same thing with some rich people. You think their children are rich, but their parents have left them nothing. You can be from a rich family, you are the same like that person who is from a poor family. We only have one value or two if you like. When you are born that's a value. When you die that's seeing we're all the same, regardless how wealthy you are. Children, or somebody working with youth encourages you, you're gonna be great. Nobody wanted us to be the way it, is it's how life is. Nobody wanted Myanmar or Karen or the Rohingya to suffer in refugee camp without knowing their own home. Nobody wanted to see kids in Jamaica just having no food. That's why there's the hope. That's why there are people good out there that served me when I came to this country and got food. And now I'm able to give something out.
Paul Meunier
Yeah. You care so deeply for others. It's just so transparent how much you give of yourself and how deeply you care about others. What's one thing that keeps you awake at night that you worry about young people today?
Francis Yengistic
Oh, that's a loaded question. It's, again it depends on the country where you are. A lot of kids, young people are getting taken away. Their parents powers. I was raised different. I believe you were raised different. But nowadays, I don't have time with my own kids. I'm at work eight hours, probably by the time I get home everybody's exhausted. I wish I had enough time to work with my students, to be with my children, to be an uncle to my own nephews and nieces. But the time is not there. Young people whether female or male sometimes they don't even know they have cramps and they wanted somebody to tell them what to do. Nobody's there. Parents, aunties at work. People are locked up. Nobody's there to help them, to guide them. I wish we can go back I don't know, 20 years, 30 years, and be able, but it's not that good. But with the hope I believe the future of our young people is going to be great. I hope those of us who are working with young people also who say you're going to make it happen. You're going to be successful.
Paul Meunier
Yeah. I think it's interesting when I asked you what keeps you awake at night part of your answer was I don't have enough time to do everything I need to do. It was such an altruistic answer, a deep and meaningful answer that you gave. Thank you.
Francis Yengistic
You're welcome sir.
Paul Meunier
You know, Francis, it's been just wonderful hearing your story. And I'm so grateful that you opened up your heart and your soul to telling other young people about it in hopes that you can inspire them and encourage them to do great things with their world. And your story on The Passionate Youth worker is exactly what we do The Passionate Youth Worker about. We all need to be inspired and we all need to give of ourselves the best that we can in the most unique way we can. Because we have the power to change the lives of young people. It's not a small thing that we're doing here. It's a very important thing. And I'm so grateful that you came to the United States, you served our country well, you went to college, you got educated, and you got educated in a way just to give back to other people. So, thank you for all you've done. And thank you for being a guest on the podcast.
Francis Yengistic
I really appreciate. Thank you, sir.
Paul Meunier
Francis, before we go, I always like to give the guests the last word. So, what words of wisdom or inspiration would you like to leave with the listeners?
Francis Yengistic
First but not the last, I will say for those people, more especially my young people from West Africans, taking a dangerous cross to Europe, getting drown or crossing to Libya. Please, think about it. I know how tough it is in your home country. For those who are crossing the desert, whether through South America to cross to United States. Sometimes it's not worth it. I made it here not the wrong way. You can do it from your own country. You can survive than crossing those oceans or rivers for anything to bring you out of your country. Please believe on yourself too. You can make it. Whenever you wake up in the morning, look at the mirror and say thank you. Whoever you're going to thank whether it's your God, whether yourself, say, validate yourself. Don't wait for your mom to say you look great. Don't wait for somebody to say your hair is great. Don't look at somebody else and say that somebody does say look great, you're in trouble. Please believe on yourself, you will be successful in this world and do the right thing. Say, I love you, son. I love you, man. I love somebody. I love my country. The leaders may not be the one that you want. But leaders lead you the young people will make it happen. Do the right thing. Don't get enslaved and I really really feel honored to be here to share my story. I wish I can say more. And I wanted you just to take it from me that without you there's nobody who's gonna listen. So listen to my story and other people are gonna give to thank you so much sir, I really appreciate being here. You're the best in the world whether I did not mention your country. Be blessed.
Paul Meunier
If you would like to share your passion for youth work, we'd love to spotlight you as a guest. If you have feedback about the show, please let us know. Just visit training.yipa.org, that's training.yipa.org and click on the podcast tab. This podcast is made possible in part due to a generous contribution from M Health Fairview. I'm your host Paul Meunier. Thanks for listening to The Passionate Youth Worker.